Your water filter won’t last forever; know when you should be ready to replace it. If you have recently purchased a whole house water filter, you have probably been enjoying the benefits of clean drinking water throughout your home, as well as added perks from your filter you didn’t even know you wanted. Many people purchase whole house water filters for the health and cleanliness of their drinking water, but there is much more that these filters can do for you and your home. Having filtered water throughout your house can give you higher-quality water during baths and showers, leading to healthier hair and cleaner skin. Having filtered water in your home can even improve the longevity of your pipes by reducing rust and corrosion. But just how long do whole house water filters last? If you have ever used a single-faucet water filter, you probably know that you are supposed to replace them every once in a while to keep them working effectively. The same goes for whole house water filters, but how often you replace these filters will vary from household to household. Learn more about whole house water filters.
Why You Should Replace Your Water Filter
Your whole house water filter might seem like a simple machine, but that does not mean that it doesn’t require some degree of light maintenance. The job of a water filter is to catch the minerals, chemicals, and hidden heavy metals in our water before it leaves the faucet and reaches our mouths and our bodies. Because the filter is blocking out the sediments that we don’t see, we get to enjoy the perks of having water in its purest form accessible in our homes. That said, catching the hidden obstructions in our water is a dirty job. If left to sit gathering those minerals for too long, the filter can become clogged and lose some of its effectiveness. That allows some of those chemicals to pass through the filter, and if the filter becomes clogged enough, it can stop blocking those chemicals altogether. Even worse, if a water filter becomes exceptionally dirty, it can form mold, making for water that tastes unpleasant and leads to general health issues if drank in excess.
Types of Whole House Water Filters
With all of the minerals, metals, and chemicals hiding in our drinking water, most whole house water filtration systems will come with multiple types of filters to catch all of the obstructions that we cannot see ourselves.The specific types of filters when you set up your whole house water filtration will vary based on your installation. There are, however, three filters generally included in most systems that will have different jobs and timelines for replacement.
Pre-filter: The pre-filter is considered the first line of defense in your home’s water filtration system. While just about everything that your water filter catches is invisible to the naked eye, the pre-filter captures the larger matter and keeps it from reaching the water running through your faucet.
Carbon filter: The carbon filter’s job is to remove microscopic contaminants from your drinking water like chlorine and pesticides.
Post-filter: The post-filter will catch the absolute smallest obstructions from your home’s water. Post-filters are the most optional additions of typical whole house water filtration systems but will put the finishing touches on your water to make it as clean as possible.
The Longevity of Your Whole House Water Filter
Now that we’ve looked at how filtered water can improve your daily quality of life and why it is crucial to replace your filters, we can get back to the question of how long whole house water filters last. The answer will depend in large part on how many gallons of water your household uses on average.Whole house water filters are put to work every time the water comes on in your home. So, if you are running the shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, or anything else that uses water, your house water filter will be catching as many blockages as it can and clogging incrementally over time. Most water filters come with a suggested amount of gallons of water you can use before replacement. And while that suggestion typically provides an accurate estimation of when to put in a new filter, it can be challenging to track water usage so specifically. For average usage, most professional plumbers recommend that you replace your pre-filter every six months and your carbon filter and post-filter once every year. But water usage is not the only thing determining how often you will need to replace your filters.You should replace your whole house water filter more or less frequently depending on how dirty your water is pre-filtration. If your water is already relatively silt- and salt-free, then your filters will be doing less work and will last longer as a result. On the other hand, if your water is dense in minerals and heavy metals, you should consider replacing your filters more often than is recommended.
Installing Whole House Water Filtration in Your Home
If you are looking to have your whole house water filters replaced by a professional or want to have whole house water filtration set up in your home, consider calling Core Plumbing today.Whole house water filtration by Core Plumbing is a quick and easy installation that will leave you with all the benefits of having filtered water in every room of your home in just a few hours. With 24-hour service available, our team is always ready to help the people of San Diego and major cities throughout California with their plumbing needs. If you believe that whole house water filtration is a fit for you or would like to learn more about the installation process, schedule an appointment with our family-owned and -operated business today. To learn more about how long whole house water filters last, call Core Plumbing at (858) 293-4102 today or book an appointment for whole house water filter installation on our website.
